For years it has been common practice to continuously pass strip material through furnaces after which the strip is fed through a quench tank. During such processes it has been common practice to pass the strip over a roll mounted within the quench tank.
It is well known that such metal or alloy strip material often has a camber and/or lateral curvature associated therewith due to the rolling operations used in forming such strip. In the absence of a steering mechanism associated with the quench tank roll the strip would have a tendency to move across the face of the roll and eventually jamb up against the walls of the quench tank. This of course would lead to severe damage of the quenching apparatus causing equipment down time as well as leading to damage and/or loss of the strip material itself.
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for efficiently and quickly centering and aligning moving objects, especially strip and strip-like materials.